Anime Generator Gawl

[Kyo no Ryu]

How many people have heard of or seen Generator Gawl? Its a hilariouse 12 episode series with lots of action. Its about these guys who went back in time to stop the generators (evil robots) from being created. It turns out to be extremely funny. I got the first 3 episodes for 6 bucks. I highly reccomend it. Who else has seen this? Use tags.

[IkkiMechaPilot]

I saw a preview and it looks good and i might be able to rent it so i hope its good.

[Kyo no Ryu]

At least ouve heard of it... anyway its really great. I reccomend it if youu like comedy and action. The first DVD has 3 episodes.

[IkkiMechaPilot]

What is the transformation thingy they do? is it like genetic or are they aliens or something cause it looked pretty tripy when i first watched and then again today when i watched it and i havent had a good sugar high in like a week.

[Kyo no Ryu]

Well aparently the generators are android. On thefirst DVD the only one that "changed" was Gawl. He just kinda transforms. If youve seen Soultaker its like that.

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR="DarkOrange"]This thread isn't in the directory : O And... i knew I remembered there being a Generator Galw thread, but who would've thought I created it?! XD!

So, after 3 years of watching it, I have FINALLY finished watching Generator Gawl, and for an Eva clone, it was done very well. Kind of funny how I started this show and Eva around the same time and only saw the cheerful beginnings, not seeing the real meat of the plot until years later, lol.

Okay, so calling it an Eva knock-off might be a little much, but let's be honest, it probably was. [spoiler]There was a girl in a giant orange test tube with clones on-hand, all the computer scenes looked the exact same, a test subject throws it's opponent into a giant orange window where the scientists are operating, an ending where the main character reshapes the world, and even the series structure, beginning calmly with a mix of action and comedy, then getting darker until becoming dramatic[/spoiler] - it's no wonder ADV was so quick to license this show back in the day.

However, like most things that exist, Generator Gawl doesn't have half the impact of Eva, being half the length as well, however the pacing is much, much better. Gawl moves very fast from start to finish, making it the perfect show for a marathon, and is always totally fun and interesting. While rife with plot twists, it manages to remain a bit unpredictable as well as logical. I'm willing to bet that some things would bug some viewers, especially some of what is revealed in the last episode, but I think the logic supported all of it well enough, even if the ending was an ultimate plot-fixer trick.

If you have a rainy day, I highly recommend giving this little 12-ep series a look, especially if you'd like to see a shorter, less high-brow-mind-****ing version of eva.[/COLOR]

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503f86]Calling it an Eva knock-off is a little unfair. If anything it's more like RahXephon in the way things happen. For one thing, it's not about [spoiler]'reshaping' the world as such- they were sent to prevent things from happening in the future they escaped from. It doesn't change the world in the same way it apparently happens in Eva (which I'm still not sure about, given the rather complicated and ambiguous nature of both the series and the movie endings).[/spoiler] [/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503f86]That said, it's been a long time since I watched Gawl and I don't remember much about it. I think I remember enjoying it, but being a little frustrated by the English dub. Those were the early days of ADV though. Methinks I shall watch it again at some point, in Japanese.[/COLOR]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[quote name='Solo Tremaine'][COLOR=#503f86]Calling it an Eva knock-off is a little unfair. If anything it's more like RahXephon in the way things happen. For one thing, it's not about [spoiler]'reshaping' the world as such- they were sent to prevent things from happening in the future they escaped from. It doesn't change the world in the same way it apparently happens in Eva (which I'm still not sure about, given the rather complicated and ambiguous nature of both the series and the movie endings).[/spoiler] [/COLOR]

[COLOR=#503f86]That said, it's been a long time since I watched Gawl and I don't remember much about it. I think I remember enjoying it, but being a little frustrated by the English dub. Those were the early days of ADV though. Methinks I shall watch it again at some point, in Japanese.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[COLOR="DarkOrange"]I haven't seen Rahxephon, but it came 2 years after Gawl. Gawl was in the time of Eva's remaining rediculous popularity, and since ADVs money has always ridden on Eva, I woudn't be surprised if Gawl was only liscenced for the similarities. [/COLOR]

[Dagger]

I dunno. Whether or not they're similar, I don't recall having seen ADV reference Eva specifically* when marketing it. Seems more likely to me that they were motivated to pick it up because action + teenagers + sci-fi has always been a pretty good bet for the American market (at least before the bubble burst) than because of any specific parallels to Evangelion. I mean, if you have to watch the actual show to notice the parallels, then that kind of defeats the point in terms of marketing purposes. :animeswea

*Compared to, say, how they pushed the "from the creators of Eva!!!" angle for This Ugly and Beautiful World.

~Dagger~

[Solo Tremaine]

[quote name='2008DigitalBoy'][COLOR=darkorange]I haven't seen Rahxephon, but it came 2 years after Gawl. Gawl was in the time of Eva's remaining rediculous popularity, and since ADVs money has always ridden on Eva, I woudn't be surprised if Gawl was only liscenced for the similarities. [/COLOR][/quote]
[COLOR=#503F86]They were licensed at more or less the same time, though- it's not like ADV was formed initially for a single series acquisition. The thing is, like Dagger said, it was a time when science fiction was very much in fashion (Star Wars was still creating a lot of buzz in the US at the time), and mecha of any sort were at the time rarely seen outside of computer games and feature films. You had things like Gasaraki, Nadesico, Nadia, Queen Emereldas, and Lost Universe being advertised on DVDs released at the same time, and ADV also had the DVD distribution rights to Farscape as well. The sales of that are as likely an indicator as anything to tell them what kind of things to pick up.[/COLOR]

[TwistedChick]

Gawl was one of the first series I ever saw, and it was definitely my first sci-fi. I really enjoyed it, partly due to Vic's delivery as Gawl. Criticize the overall dub all you want, but Gawl's character was captured beautifully in that dub. Plus, there's this one scene where some cab driver or something is singing a little ditty, and out pops "long time ago when I was a small boy" in this hysterical sing-song voice. It's become a huge inside joke for my sister and I, so we can't help but love the dub.

I [I]lamely[/I] enough still haven't seen Eva, so I can't comment with a great deal of accuracy, but from what I can tell there is a vast difference in tone throughout the two series, plus whereas one leaves you with a bad aftertaste, the other becomes all ideal and peachy keen. There are obvious similarities, but calling it a knock-off, even if true, has a bad connotation, something which should never be ascribed to the delightful 12-episode series known as Generator Gawl.